[Chickpea]

Mark!

[AlphaLeonis]

Username: AlphaLeonis
Kalon name: Anvir
How do they commune with nature?: Anvir is formally known as the Guardian of the Swamplands. One might think that this was a dishonour - who could have so much passion for a land full of sludge, the putrid smells and land void of nature, decapitated trees standing as a reminder of the fate of any travellers who may seek passage through it? If only they knew that he was a soldier, staying behind after the battle to pick up the pieces.

There were many Guardians like himself. Friends that he'd made within the forests and plains - some took the forms of the plants and animals that inhabited the place, using their magic to grow the plants around them, bring health to sick or injured animals, and so that they can understand why changes are occurring as well as how they can fix them. He himself often took the form of trees, or huge hawks so that he could scout the land. Some of Anvir's closest friends even competed to see who's zone would be the most beautiful and vibrant within a set period.

But one day a plague took to their grasslands, dark magic corrupting it piece by piece. The grass darkened, flowers withered, animals became sick and even began to attack each other. The Guardians, magical by nature, could sense the sickness and corruption as it grew, but were not strong enough to tackle it. Eventually, their hard work was erased, irreversible, and it had started to take over the kalons that stood to try to repair what had been destroyed. But it was too late. They sent out an emergency message, asking the Guardians to relocate, or so sacrifice themselves trying to save what was lost. Many did escape while they could, although Anvir did not know where they went, or what they are doing now. He himself was blind with determination - he could fix this. Only he and a few others stayed, and the corruption took them. Although his fur darkened, and he often was left facing the sludge the magic filled his system with, he was determined to bring the land back in its aftermath.

Using what was left of his magic, he began to slowly revitalise the Swamplands, guiding travellers safely through its dangerous territory, in hopes that one day it will be habitable; and perhaps he can bring his friends back - if he can find them first. (397)

1 extra: Hundreds of quiet years had passed without signs of another kalon. Helping animals and humans was easy enough; he was able to manipulate his surroundings to clear a path, or build a way through with rocks and logs, topped off with wooden signs sticking out the sides of trees, guiding travellers in the right direction. Most times he hid himself away from anyone passing through, and he preferred it that way, never left the borders as he worked away.

But what if a kalon came, tried to talk to him? Did he still know how?

That day, Anvir was minding his own business, too busy sprouting flowers in the grassy mound he'd managed to raise from within the depths of the swamp. He barely heard the footsteps behind him, until a voice made him freeze with fear.

"You are alive," the kalon spoke, as if mystified by his presence. "The tales were outrageous, I never expected them to be true, but I had to try."

Snapping out of his deer-in-headlights fear, Anvir spun around to face the stranger... a Guardian? So many emotions were rushing through him, but only anger flashed in his vibrant eyes. "Why are you here?" he snapped. He hadn't spoken since he'd lost them, and his voice sounded unfamiliar, strange.

"To bring you news," she explained calmly, trying to ignore the differences in her old friend - the black pool at his paws, the dark green-grey tinge of his fur. "The escapees survived - but we have to save the others. The ones who stayed with you."

"I lost them to the corruption - they're gone," he sighed, looking away.

"We have reason to believe they are still alive, and you know us, Anvir. They never gave up, and neither will we." (296)

Thank you for the opportunity to win a beautiful kalon! I can't wait to read the other entries.

[76heart]

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76heart ● sheeva delphine ● female ● she/her ● 723 words
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❝ priestess of candra ❞
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Carefully, in a movement so very familiar, she dipped the shell- a makeshift bowl- into the clear water below her, along the edge of the stream. The rippling water ran across her paws, forging new paths around the obstruction they were to continue on it's path, it's purpose and route, to flow with the rest of the stream, to wherever the stream may end, in a place of still water, for the fish to swim and the animals to drink.

The land was much different here, not at all like the sands of Erast, colored in hues of orange and gold. She had yet to find a cave with a pool blessed by the Goddess, the great Earth Mother, which she should have expected from the moment she set her paws onto this new land. While there was a bountiful number of those blessed caves in the lands of her home, hidden beneath the dunes of the great desert, there were none here, no waters singing her name, and no grasses praising her name to the earth.

They did not worship the great goddess Candra in these lands, here they worshipped the deities of The Nine, without a great Earth Mother among them, another of Candra's names. The people of Aresdon had turned their backs to the earth, to the nature, and had ignored it's call, but she had not turned her back to them. So long as she could find clear water, incense, and sarpa salpa to induce the visions she needed, she could reach Her here. The Goddess closed her arms to no soul; her arms were open wide to all, generous, kind, forgiving, and bringing with them the renewal of life.

Even though they had turned their backs to Her in these lands, she still watched, and now Sheeva was here to answer Her call when all here ignored it.

She had been sent here by the great Earth Mother, shown in a vision to come to these far away lands across the sea. She did not yet know Her purpose, but she had faith that She would show her when the time was right. For now she simply had to keep faith, and let her soul become one with the earth, and join with the roots of the trees, and see through the eyes of the flowers and their leaves, and the buds that would soon bloom.

The shell was raised above her, ever so slowly, until it was raised as high above her head as her paws could reach, and then she gently tipped it, and let it flow down onto her, cleansing her physical form as the droplets slowly cascaded down until they faded to a trickle.

"Great Candra, Earth Mother, I ask to see through your eyes. Show me what you will, and I will be your voice. I am your servant."

She leaned down, and submerged her head in the water. The stream pushed against her skull, but she held still, her eyes closed and mind focus, as everything turned to a deep black, a void without color, and she could feel her soul going down, down into the earth, to join with the ancient roots of this forest buried beneath the soil.

Her form was drifting, drifting floating aimlessly in the emptiness until she felt a gentle pull, and then a harsher tug, and suddenly, again she could see, though not through her own eyes.

Sheeva was looking through the eyes of the forest, eyes that had opened for the very first time, so new, so bright.

The Nine had no god or goddess of nature, no Candra by another name, and no priest or priestess to carry out their wishes in the mortal plains, the Earth Mother's eyes had never been here before, never seen the forest she saw of the greatest green.

She could feel everything, the earth as it breathed, and her roots digging further into the earth, in an endless search for water, for their survival. She could feel her leaves being pulled by the breeze, a tug like she was pulling a burr from her hair, and then all of a sudden she felt a sharp pain, and then nothing.

She awoke with a startling gasp, coughing the water from her lungs as she rose, eyes wide and afraid.

[Ringo.]

Username: Ringo.
Kalon name: Queen of The Isles — “Athena”
How do they commune with nature?: 400 word AND/OR one art piece maximum
1 extra: 300 words and/or one additional art piece.

Quick mark, so beautiful <3

[Decca]

Res! Aa

[sobble]

Username: Junkratss
Kalon name: Viridios
How do they commune with nature?:
Viridios turned sharply, lips drawn into a snarl. The glowing black sprite stopped short of her hindquarters. Of course, if one happened to be observing the two, they would not see the pesky sprite. The sprite was what Viridios considered her personal nuisance. It plagued day after day, spewing warnings of the forest's decay. He pleaded with her - if she did not leave she would meet the same fate as the canopies they resided in. The sickly oaks had begun to whither and bow under the weight of what were once great, reaching branches. As they stood before the two travelers, they were pathetic. Scraggly branches nigh devoid of leaves provided a pitiful scattering of shade across the sparse undergrowth, littered with decaying leaves.
Viridios, of course, knew the forest had been infected. She did not need anyone to tell her this, as the nagging sprite pulling at her tail might believe. She could feel it in the way that the winds whistled through the trees, and how the eyes began to slowly close and retreat deep within the core of the trunks. Her partner, though originally granted to her to assist her in assessing the spread of the corrupted cicadas throughout their homeland, was unneeded. Viridios had long since been able to feel their vibrations under-paw, and she knew that at the moment the sprite had chosen to resurrect her, the life-force of the forest and herself had become intertwined.
Viridios also knew that the sprite she had turned her back on cared for her deeply. He was fulfilling his duty, and she had become a part of the larger story now. She had failed once, and he could not allow that to happen again. Viridios hadn't revealed to him the thick, black ooze which had begun to spill from her body. She knew it meant that the strain of cicadas had spread well beyond where their journey had taken them, that her life was in danger just as the broken outstretch of nature before them was. It didn't matter. She had failed him once, and she knew it was too late to reverse the damage done or hope to catch the swarm now. When would he see that she wasn't worth keeping alive?
Viridios lowered her shoulders, turning to face the sprite.
"You know we can't do this, Phaedrus. You can sense it just as I can."
399/400
1 extra: 300 words and/or one additional art piece.

[Chaotic Queen]

Username: Albino_
Kalon name: Artemis
How do they commune with nature?: 400 word AND/OR one art piece maximum
1 extra: 300 words and/or one additional art piece.


big wip!

[VanossGaming]

Username:VanossGaming
Kalon name: Balanos
How do they commune with nature?: 400 word AND/OR one art piece maximum
W.I.P with Dryad of the woods

1 extra: 300 words and/or one additional art piece.

[sillies]

dropping out, good luck to all!

[rustyroxy]

Res